CLU Draws Whitman in NCAA First Round

CLU returns to playoffs in Oregon

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Announced today by the NCAA, Cal Lutheran will travel to Lewis & Clark to play No. 25 Whitman in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament First Round on Friday, March 1. The Regals are returning to postseason play for the second consecutive season and eighth time in school history.

Cal Lutheran (23-4) will represent the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) after earning the automatic bid by winning the 2013 SCIAC Post Season Tournament with victories over Occidental, 69-67 in overtime, and Chapman 59-54 in the title game.

Last winter CLU traveled to Oregon to play George Fox in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and while they will be headed north again, it will be to face Whitman (20-5), a school they have not seen since Dec. 5, 2008. The Regals fell to the Missionaries, 74-57, in a tournament hosted by Whitworth.

In the Northwest Conference an upset forced host No. 8 Lewis & Clark to earn a Pool C at-large bid as the Whitworth (21-6) Pirates defeated the Pioneers 76-61 in the NWC Tournament championship game. Whitman joins LC and WU as the third school from the Northwest Conference after earning an at-large bid.

Rounding out the pod of four teams to compete at Lewis & Clark in the first and second rounds of the 64-team tournament is Trinity (Tex.) (23-4) who won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. It was the Tigers first tournament title since 2005.

Cal Lutheran has not faced Lewis & Clark since defeating the Pioneers 68-67 at home on Dec. 6, 2009 and has never matched up against the Tigers from Trinity.

The first round gets under way on Friday, March 1 when Cal Lutheran and Whitman tip off at 5:30 p.m. in the 2,200 seat Pamplin Sports Center. The second game on Friday will feature Lewis & Clark and Trinity at 7:30 p.m.

The two winning teams will meet on the court Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the second round of action.

Tickets will be sold at the door with prices set at $10 (adults), $4 (children 12 and under) and $3 (students, seniors, military with ID). Gates are set to open one hour prior to tip-off.